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Review: 2016 Lincoln MKX offers ‘Quiet Luxury’

With its redesigned front end, the MKX now bears a much stronger resemblance to its MKC and Navigator siblings. (Lee Bailie)

If you want big, shiny alloy wheels, the MKX has you covered. The standard wheels are 18-inches, but 21-inch painted premium sets are also available. (Lee Bailie)

From the rear, the MKX exudes a sleekness thanks a to LED tail lights, a powerdome roof spoiler and chrome exhaust outlets. (Lee Bailie)

The interior of the MKX is awash in soft-touch plastics and brushed metallic knobs and trim pieces, but Ford's new SYNC 3 infotainment system won't be available until later in the MKX's production run. (Lee Bailie)

The MKX's interior features lots of handsome design, attention to detail and very comfortable heated and cooled leather seats. (Lee Bailie)

It's a little weird odd at first to see no gear shift lever in the centre console, but its absence really opens up the MKX's interior and gives it a more spacious feel. (Lee Bailie)

Heated rear seats are available as an option in the new MKX. (Lee Bailie)

If the front seats look a bit thicker than normal, that's because they house actuators that provide 22-way adjustability. (Lee Bailie)

If Lincoln’s recent renaissance doesn’t last, no one can point to a lack of fresh and engaging product as one of the reasons for its downfall.

After years of being starved of compelling product, Lincoln is now awash in it. From last year’s all-new compact MKC crossover, to the forthcoming rebirths of the MKZ and Continental sedans, Ford’s luxury brand has been churning out new models in rapid-fire fashion, and they’re not done yet.

A replacement for the aged, full-size Navigator SUV is said to be on the way, and the mid-size MKX crossover is already here.

After soldiering on more or less unchanged after it was face-lifted for the 2011 model year, the MKX was definitely due for an overhaul.

Built at Ford’s Oakville Assembly plant, alongside its Ford Edge twin with whom it shares a platform and powertrains, the 2016 MKX is a real departure from the model it replaces, although I must confess that the differences weren’t apparent to me until I saw the outgoing car.

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From an appearance perspective, the MKX now has a front end that brings it in line with its MKC and Navigator siblings.

A split-wing grille houses sleek headlights that extend just beyond the car’s front corners and meet a sharp beltline crease that runs along the front doors. The crease fades into the rear doors and then reappears over the rear wheel, forming sharply defined haunches.

Key design features in the rear include what Lincoln calls a ‘powerdome’ roof spoiler that houses the radio antenna, along with a revised tail light design that appears as a one-piece unit when illuminated.

My tester, a base model loaded with nearly $20,000 worth of optional equipment, definitely felt more luxurious than the previous MKX I had driven a few years back, but it didn’t overwhelm.

Lincoln calls this more subdued approach to refinement ‘Quiet Luxury,’ and the new MKX is the first vehicle where this ethic has been applied.

The tenets of Quiet Luxury include an elegant design, a safe and effortless ride, and a personalized experience. There’s loads of luxury available, in other words, but its deployment is designed to complement the driving experience, not bombard it.

It’s a rather novel approach given the boldfaced technological and performance arms races currently taking place between many of its rivals.

Speaking of performance, the 2016 MKX comes with two V6 engine choices, a 3.7-litre Duratec unit and an all-new 2.7-litre EcoBoost variant. Both are mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, the only gearbox available.

The 3.7 puts out 303 horsepower and 278 pound-feet of torque, while the 2.7 bumps up to 335 hp and 380 lb-ft. My allure blue metallic test vehicle was outfitted with the latter.

Inside, the MKX is filled with fine touches that epitomize Lincoln’s notion of Quiet Luxury being a tailored experience.

One of the first things I noticed is a centre stack and console that adheres to Lincoln’s banishment of gear selectors.

I have to be honest, the PRNDS push buttons that take the place of a traditional shift lever takes a lot of getting used to, much longer than the seven days I spent with the MKX.

However, the practice of pushing buttons in order to get going — and the attendant shift lag that comes with it — does begin to feel more natural the more you do it.

And there’s no doubt it looks better. The centre console area, with its neatly organized climate control buttons, metallic audio knobs and eight-inch touchscreen interface look good and have a pleasing quality feel.

A smooth-actuating, covered storage bin with a USB port is especially handy, and the centre console compartment under the centre armrest is sizable.

Notable by its absence, however, is the SYNC 3, Ford’s latest voice-activated software that’s gradually being rolled out in new or redesigned Ford and Lincoln vehicles.

In the case of the MKX, I’ve been told by a Ford of Canada representative that the SYNC 3 is late availability, meaning it will be available on units built later in the 2016 model year.

It’s a small quibble, as the current four corners, colour-coded MyLincoln Touch (SYNC 2) works fine. I was just hoping to fiddle with the SYNC 3 a bit more after briefly experiencing it for the first time last fall in a 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350.

Elsewhere, the MKX is filled with attractive shapes and richly finished surfaces. Brushed metallic bits, like the ones that cover the audio speakers nestled in the front doors, are especially nice to the touch.

The heated and cooled leather seats are comfortable and provide good support, no doubt aided by the fact that they’re the optional 22-way (yes, 22) Multicontour variety. I didn’t try all 22 articulating parts, but let’s just say they made my four-hour drives to and from Windsor for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit quite comfortable.

Another interior feature worth mentioning is the optional 13-speaker Revel Audio system, which comes with a 12-channel amplifier and produces stunning sound.

So how is Quiet Luxury on the road? Pretty quiet. The EcoBoost V6’s grunt is audible under hard acceleration, but cruising along the highway at constant speeds (as I did for hours on end), produces surprisingly little road or wind noise. Not vaultlike perhaps, but suppressed well enough for a luxury vehicle.

The MKX’s reflexes are noticeably sharper in Sport mode, where the throttle response and gearbox shift points are tuned to deliver a more engaging driving experience.

With that said, I left it in regular drive most of the time as the higher r.p.m.s of Sport mode delivered a bit more noise into the cabin than I was comfortable with.

In all, the MKX delivers a compelling luxury package with impressive levels of refinement, build quality and available equipment that make for a pleasing driving experience. Despite the laundry list of options on my tester, the MKX comes well-equipped out of the box for a price that undercuts many of its competitors.

What it may lack in flash and outright performance, it more than makes up for in cool elegance.

Lexus RX — All-new for 2016, higher starting MSRP, available as a hybrid

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